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Experiments, Ethics, and the Greater Good The Hippocratic Oath which essentially says no doctor should intentionally harm a patient and should always work for their best interest; yet in reality, there are many cases you find doctors are unwilling to preform difficult surgeries because of insurance risks and not wanting to lose someone in surgery. Their natural approach is then to decline the operation, does this for fill the oath? While technically the patient is declined and may then not be considered on the care of the physician in question, because of them it is likely the individual is likely to die because the lack of action made on the part of the doctor. It becomes easy to see how a technicality, or a general lack of specification will likely be exploited if possible.The Belmont Report offers what could be considered one of the best definitions of experimental ethics that one could find, this though can both be accredited to and despite of a general sense of moral grey area it allows for. It lays the grounds for experiments on human subjects to be humane to the best of the abilities of the of the research team, so that the experiment is not to be outright torture or intentionally harmful to the extent of which the risk outweighs the possible benefits. However, what exactly is humane as interpreted by the research team, may not be what would generally be considered appropriately in accordance with the boundaries of morality as understood by society. Progress itself is not forgotten, regardless of the nature source of its source, even if it is one of horrific nature. When experimentation is thought of, especially in regard to the evils of science, the atrocities of Nazi scientist is often what comes to mind. No matter the basis under which the knowledge was gained, we do not discredit the information, as it is no less important than that discovered by more ethical means. When you think of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union, one would not come to the conclusion that we learned from the Nazi scientists, but in actuality we not only took lessons from research they conducted on subjects, such is the case with effects of air pressure, we in many cases took the scientists themselves. Even of the main 23 scientist, many were not found guilty of acts harsh enough to face the death penalty, and that can be applied to the Nazi scientist of all levels, as both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. took the opportunity to acquire these scientists for their own uses. Arthur Rudolph being a key example, he was a key figure in the development of the V-2 rocket, yet rather than face any sort of punishment, he became was a pioneer for NASA, even receiving official awards from the government division. The "greater good" will most likely, if not always, prevail when progress is in question. Thankfully for the needs of this class, we will not likely be using forceful methods of extracting information from subjects. So we won't be leaving an victims as a result of "interviews," at least not any that would be reported. Back to Table of Contents